💡 Think:
“Love your fellow as yourself” —(Leviticus 19:18)
“A soul enters this world for seventy or eighty years just to do a favor for another” —the Baal Shem Tov.
”Chol Hamoed Charlie: Born Twice. How Nice. Born again, I'll tell you when: born on the 9th and the 25th day.” —Charlie Buttons
Charlie Nassofer, known to the world as Charlie Buttons, has passed away.
Charlie was a unique figure - part 'court jester,' part savant - he would visit every joyous gathering in Crown Heights - engagements, weddings, bris milahs, and other social functions. No matter the occasion (save for the annual dinner for Lincoln Square synagogue, when he wore a tuxedo), he dressed in the same jean overalls covered with dozens of buttons on his clothes and hat.
Charlie graced my engagement, as he did with everyone else... His heart-shaped red balloon a gift he presented us… He would give longwinded l'chaims, filled with wordplay and interlinked concepts he'd repeat over and over again. A bit of Zelig, Charlie found his way into all kinds of moments...
In his youth, he’d experienced a car accident, one that left him permanently handicapped and in any other context, would have relegated him to a life sorting items at a Goodwill or some other job tucked away from the public eye.
Instead, Charlie was a rockstar, known by hundreds of thousands around the world.
When Charlie was getting older, he asked me to walk him around the corner to where he lived on Lefferts pl. (Lef-farts, as he would say.)
It took us half an hour to walk the block and a half. He had trouble walking, but the real reason it took us so long was because people kept stopping him.
"Charlie, you were at my engagement!"
"Charlie, this is my son Zalmy, you were at his bris three years ago."
"Charlie, how are you doing?" ("Decomposing," was his answer.)
People whispered Charlie was a hidden tzadik - one of the 36 righteous people upon whom the world stands... I'm not an expert in hidden tzadikim... but in a way, the joy he brought to others, he was already revealed.
🏃 DO:
🍹 Meet other Jews in tech, connect, and more at Tech Tribe's monthly Third Thursday Schmooze, May 15th. Special Lag BaOmer edition!
🍷Join us for an al fresco feast, drinks and the Ten Commandments, as we celebrate Shavuot! Shavuot: An Evening of Revelation on Sunday,June 01.
🔓 NY Tech Week: AI + TORAH — ARTIFICIAL WISDOM - #NYTECHWEEK on Thursday, June 5, 6pm.
🌇 Startup Shabbat Shabbat Dinner with Brex for #NYTechWeek on Friday, June 6th.
🎬 Watch:
Do you need a mezuzah? We have one for you!
🌱 #ChaiSociety
Special thanks to the #ChaiSociety members who donate monthly to support our community!
Adam Kotok, Avrohom Margolis, Bill Dilworth, David Lobron, Cal Nathan, Chanoch Rosenberg, Fitz Tepper, Hershey Gutnik, Jacob Ner-David, Lev Podelko, Levi Plotkin, Liel Leibovitz, M. Kahn, Manilan Houle, Mattanya Ginsburg, Melissa Davis, Mendel Konikov, Michael Morgenstern, Nikita Sokolsky, Scott Shapiro, Sholom Laine, Tzali Reicher
Tech Tribe is entirely community-funded - Invest in Tech Tribe (starting at $36 a month), and join the monthly #ChaiSociety!
🔥 Lit:
This week, light Shabbat candles in NYC at 7:42 PM
For Shabbat candle-lighting time in your area click here.
Like what you saw? Want more? Please feel free to forward this email far and wide!
Support Tech Tribe’s mission to build community and curate epic experiences for young Jews in tech and digital media!